We are often asked why we have chosen to sell the Dovado range of mobile broadband routers from among the many brands of 3G and 4G routers on the market. There are several factors that make the Dovado products stand out for us, including the high level of customer satisfaction, Dovado’s proactive style of customer support and, not least, the frequency of their firmware updates to extend the range of supported modems and introduce many new exciting features.

This (very long) article aims to comprehensively document the rapid and feature-rich progression of Dovado firmware since the UMR’s launch in June 2008. The most recent firmware releases are listed first.

NAS and FTP server – use the extra USB port (where available) to share USB disk or memory storage across the network (5.0.5)

Auto configuration – automatically selects APN and login credentials based on SIM. This means that in many cases, customers can get their router working with their modem straight out of the box without any configuration. (4.3.0)

Troubleshooting wizard points the user in the direction of what might be causing a lack of internet connectivity (4.3.0)

A list of common APNs for many countries are available for selection (4.1.5)

v7.2.1, 9 April 2014

Available for TINY, DOMA, GO, PRO

Fixed issue with Dynamic DNS introduced by upgrade to 7.2.0.

Resolved connect issue with Option HSO modems

v7.2.0, 7 April 2014

Available for TINY, DOMA, GO, PRO
This major release introduced the modem redundancy feature for the PRO along with several other significant enhancements. The user interface on the router is now more dynamic with greater feedback on button clicks and a red warning in the status bar when a restart is required.Specifically for the PRO

v7.1.0, 16 September 2013

Available for TINY, DOMA, GO, PRO

New Features

Internet Scheduler, a way to control what times users can access the Internet. The router will still be online and accessible from outside (along with respond to SMS commands) but clients will not be able to access the Internet. Available on the DOVADO TINY/DOMA/GO models under INTERNET->SCHEDULER page. On the DOVADO PRO model, it is integrated into the AUTOMATION pages.

New SMS command “Internet On” and “Internet Off”, along with API and Web UI.

Fixes & Enhancements

Groups of days can now be created and used in (Home & Internet) Automation (PRO model)

Home Automation Events/Aliases/Groups can now be edited on the DOVADO PRO

Web User Interface (UI) has now been widened. Clear browser’s cache in case of issues (Ctrl+F5)

v7.0.0, 10 July 2013

Available for TINY, DOMA, GO, PRO
The highlights of this major release are the new VPN functionality and the ability to initiate a Live Upgrade via SMS. The VPN client has implications for much of the routers’ functionality. As is natural with such a major development, a few unforeseen bugs are inevitable. These are ironed out in a steady stream of subsequent bugfix releases. The VPN setup is explained in this video:

New Features

Embedded VPN (PPTP) client with optional 128-bit encryption, located on the VPN->PPTP page.

By default, entire internal network will be routed through VPN tunnel.

Possible to limit use of PPTP tunnel to only a certain number of devices as opposed to all. The rest use the Direct Internet in parallel.

A “block” option is available in order to restrict Internet access for the network clients in case the PPTP tunnel drops. This will prevent any sensitive traffic to spill out on the Internet.

Port Forwarding rules are available for both the Direct Internet as well as PPTP Client interfaces, offering great flexibility.

VPN’s IP and Status info/command available in the API as well as the web menu’s Status Overview Bar.

SMS commands/notifications now include VPN IP address.

Status Overview Bar can be disabled in the SYSTEM->REMOTE MANAGEMENT page.

New SMS command: UPGRADE. This will instruct the router to fetch latest firmware from Dovado servers.

Added “upgrade”-command to API.

An undocumented new feature appears to be quicker fail-over from WAN to USB by having the USB modem in a state of readiness while idle.

Please Note: Connection Tracker is currently disabled when the VPN client has been enabled. This will likely be addressed in a future release.

4G USB Modems added

Huawei E3276 Singtel (also supporting Bridge Mode)

Huawei E3276 V2 Optus – TDD/FDD (also supporting SMS and Bridge Mode)

SMS now working on newer generation of Huawei E3276 firmware

Fixes & Enhancements

Cleanup on the GUI (Graphical User Interface). Re-arranged the menu for improved structure. Manual has been updated accordingly.

Improved functionality and enhancements on existing features.

Hungarian language added in wizard and troubleshooting.

A few cosmetic changes appear with 7.0.0, namely:

the left-hand sidebar has been capitalised completely, appearing a bit SHOUTY when you first notice, but you soon get used to it

The DNS page has been moved from SYSTEM->DNS to INTERNET->DNS

v6.2.7, 14 May 2013

Available for 4GR (final release), TINY, DOMA, GO, PRO (first available release)
Two fixes in this release:

Resolved speed issue with Tele2 and 4GR traffic origin from Wifi.

Resolved connection issuue with Huawei E3276.

v6.2.6, 6 May 2013

Available for 4GR, TINY, DOMA, GO, PRO (never available as a download)
This release included three improvements:

Fix sunrise and sunset from drifting. (4GR)

Upgrade to Google Maps v3. (4GR,PRO)

Fix sending SMS in bridge mode.

v6.2.5, 22 April 2013

Available for 4GR, TINY, DOMA, GONew Feature: added general support for Huawei HiLink USB modems through Dovado LIM (Limited Internet Mode). Capabilities such as SMS, UPnP and Bridge Mode are not supported by LIM. Port Forwarding (in LIM) is also limited to a total of 15 entries. The Huawei E353 (HiLink) is a case in point. Dovado spent months and months working to get this awkward modem supported on their routers. I’d wager there are few other 3G routers, on which it’ll work.

One bugfix: fix for Daylight Saving Time along with sunrise triggers in Home Automation (4GR)

v6.2.2, 26 February 2013

Available for 4GR, TINY, DOMA, PRO (initial factory release)
Hard on the heels (same day) of 6.2.1, this release Fixed a Live Firmware Upgrade error, preventing 6.2.1 detecting that there is a new firmware available. It was the firmware installed on the first production run of the PRO (release 6 May 2013), but there was never a 6.2.2 download available for that model.

v6.2.1, 26 February 2013

Available for 4GR, TINY, DOMA
Just one bugfix in this one: fixes sed error for SMS

v6.2.0, 20 February 2013

Available for 4GR, TINY, DOMA
This relatively major release sees the arrival of firmware Live Upgrade

New features

Live firmware upgrade: router checks for new firmware updates. Firmware will be downloaded straight from Dovado’s servers.

New firmware SMS/E-Mail notifications can be sent to you from the router whenever there’s a new firmware.

Checking of new firmware will be done randomly once a day.

System Log available in the SYSTEM->LOG sub-menu. Provides you a detailed list of events in your router since powering on/restart.

10GB option added as notification interval in the INTERNET->TRAFFIC sub-menu.

Signal Strength also displayed in “dBm” in the MODEM->MODEM STATUS sub-menu.

(4GR) Added support for “Rising Sun” and “UPM” Self-Learning Home Automation devices.

(4GR) Scheduled Home Automation events now working in Bridge Mode

Ten 3G modems added

Huawei E368

Huawei E3131 (Orange)

Huawei K3773 HiLink

Onda TM201

Vodafone K3571-Z

Vodafone K3772-Z

ZTE MF190

ZTE MF190S (Etisalat)

ZTE MF192 (T-mobile)

ZTE MF667

v6.1.5, 18 December 2012

Available for GO (initial factory release)
This firmware was never available as a download.

v6.1.4, 12 November 2012

Available for 4GR, TINY, DOMA
Eleven modems added in this release, most of them 4G/LTE including the first offering from UK operator Everything Everywhere (EE)4G/LTE modems

Alcatel One Touch L100V

Huawei E392 (EE UK & Orange Luxemburg)

Huawei E397 (Telus Canada)

Onda MT8205 (Telecom Italia Mobile)

Quanta 1K3M (Mobily Saudi Arabia)

Vodafone K5006-Z

ZTE MF821D (O2)

ZTE MF821D (Telenor Denmark & Norway)

ZTE MF823

3G modems

Huawei E3231

Huawei E3256

v6.1.3, 26 September 2012

Available for 4GR, TINY, DOMA
Just one fix in this one: Fixed connection issue with Huawei E3276.

v6.1.2, 25 September 2012

Available for 4GR, TINY, DOMA
One bugfix in this release: Fixed an issue when updating Dynamic DNS towards Loopia.

One 4G/LTE modem support updated and the world’s first category 4 LTE modem (150Mbps) added:

20/40MHz WLAN selection now moved to WLAN SETTINGS page (ADVANCED page is now removed)

Fixed 3G-only mode for certain Sierra Wireless modems

NAS: UTF-8 now possible choice for filename encoding (4GR)

Fixed sunrise scheduling on certain devices in Home Automation (4GR)

Modems

Huawei E369

Vodafone K3805-Z

Vodafone K3806

ZTE MF691 (T-Mobile)

Huawei E173 (Turkcell)

Anydata U90 (Net1 CDMA modem)

v6.1.0, 1 August 2012

Available for 4GR, TINY, DOMA
A longer than normal gap between firmware releases, but there is plenty of new functionality in this one, namely:

As of firmware 6.1.0, DOVADO routers now contain a built in help function

Automatic Detection of time zone and summer/winter time settings (based on SIM card)

4G/LTE Manual Frequency Selection: it is now possible to select which 4G frequency band the modem should connect on.

SMS capability on 4G/LTE modems from Huawei, ZTE and Bandrich

API Access via LAN is now possible on Dovado TINY and Dovado DOMA

API allows you to both send and receive SMS’s in UTF-8 encoding

API has 2 new SMS commands, “sms sendtxt” and “sms recvtxt”

SMS has been enabled in Bridge Mode

Fixes/improvements

Speed improvements with certain 4G operators following changes within their networks (4GR)

Improved WLAN (4GR)

Support for lots of new modems

Huawei E188 (Optus)

Huawei E398 (Orange Moldova)

Huawei E398 (Swisscom)

Huawei E1823

Huawei E3131

Option BEEMO

ZTE MF190J (TMN)

ZTE MF665C (TMN)

ZTE MD182

ZTE MF192

ZTE MF626i

ZTE MF668A

Bandrich BandLuxe C501

Vodafone K3571-Z

v6.0.1, 23 April 2012

Available for 4GR, DOMA
Includes a few bugfixes, namely:

Fix for sending SMS via API (4GR)

Fix for NTP when using Ethernet WAN (4GR)

Fix power LED when receiving SMS (DOMA)

v6.0.0, 10 April 2012

Available for 4GR, TINY, DOMA (initial release)
This major release heralds the arrival of bridge mode, available on many, but not all, supported modems. Also included are some more stability improvements for the 4GR WiFi and the ability to configure with a blank APN.

New modems supported

ONDA MT835UP Nero (3G)

Sierra Wireless 313U (AT&T) (4G/LTE)

ZTE MF821 (4G/LTE)

ZTE MF190 (3G)

ZTE MF656 (3G)

ZTE MF652 (3G)

ZTE MF192 (3G)

ZTE MF668A (3G)

ZTE MF626 (A1) (3G)

v5.0.17, 26 March 2012

Available TINY (upgrade/rescue utility only)
No BIN file was released with this firmware as the resolution included required any TINY to be flashed with a new bootloader using the Rescue part of the utility. The issue fixed is a power-cycling condition affecting some, but not all of these modems: ZTE 110, ZTE 190 and Option Icon 505. See separate blog article for further details.

v5.0.16, 28 February 2012

Available for 3GN (sunset release), 4GR, TINY
This was the final firmware developed for the Dovado 3GN.Resolutions (4GR only)

General stability improvements

WLAN stabilized

Support for new Home Automation wall-plug Fuhaote (pictured right, Kjell & Company prod number 50219)

Also resolved:

Detailed Dynamic DNS status codes in GUI

Improved speed on ZTE MF680

Improved speed on Novatel Wireless MC545

New modems supported:

ZTE MF880 (4G/LTE)

ZTE MF820 (4G/LTE with CSL Hong Kong)

Huawei E392 (4G/LTE)

Quanta 1KRZ (4G/LTE)

OPTION ICON 711 (3G)

Vodafone (Huawei) K3770 (3G)

Sierra Wireless 305 (AT&T) (3G)

v5.0.15, 2 January 2012

Available for 3GN, TINYNew 3G modems

ZTE MF180 (BOB/Austria) – no SMS

Nokia CS-18 – no SMS

Enhancements & Fixes

Improved authentication for Bigpond 4G with Sierra Wireless 320U modem (to be perfected at later stage)

New features

New profile optimized for Telstra / Bigpond, manually selectable on the SYSTEM->NETWORK SETTINGS page, improving speeds in both directions by adjusting ﻿﻿﻿﻿MTU/MRU settings.

v5.0.12, 6 October 2011

v5.0.11, 23 September 2011

Available for 3GN, 4GR, TINY4G/LTE (Long Term Evolution) – support for an additional USB modem for 4G/LTE: the ZTE MF820D.

Auto-configuration – more countries added. Dovado say:

we understand that there are lots of MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) we might not support (we did our best here!), but the big players have been added in. Additional countries will be added as we expand our sales tentacles across the globe.

v5.0.6, 29 June 2011

Available for 3GN, TINY
We have neither archive nor details of this firmware release.

v5.0.5, 20 June 2011

Available for 4GR4G / LTE (Long Term Evolution) – integrated support for the Huawei E398 USB LTE modem.3G / DC-HSPA+ (42Mbps 3G) – updated support for the Huawei E372 USB modem to reach higher speeds. The Huawei E398 also supports DC-HSPA+ (42Mbps).NAS/FTP Server – the 4GR now allows you to insert a USB Hard Disk Drive (HDD), pen-drive or Micro SD card (inserted in USB modem) and serve out the storage across the LAN. You can then share your storage space across your home network as a regular network share and/or as an internal FTP site. The storage is only accessible from within the home network, and not from offsite. Typical transfer rates are 2-3MB/s (16-24Mbps) on the “SMB” (network share) mode, and a bit higher on the FTP mode. Tip: You can also store your GPS position logs straight onto a connected storage device for those offline occasions. Simply use the loopback address (127.0.0.1) when defining the FTP server.

Auto-Configuration, more countries added – basically allows you to insert the MODEM into the router and the router will then auto-detect the country (MCC- Mobile Country Code) & operator (MNC – Mobile Network Code) from the SIM card. From there on, our internal list of known APN’s residing in the router will be paired up with the MCC + MNC, and attempt to connect to the Internet.

User Management – capability to add more users and tick which service privileges they have within the router. The available services include:

WLAN authentication – configuration page has been revamped. New rules from Wi-Fi Alliance stipulate that 802.11N should only run in combination with WPA2/AES encryption. We’ve reworked the page so that the selection is based on the current guidelines as there are heightened security recommendations for 802.11N.

Advanced 802.11n settings – selection of 20 or 40MHz bandwidth is now permitted in the 802.11n WLAN environment. Note: using a 20MHz bandwidth will allow improved interoperability in a mixed 802.11b/g and 802.11n environment of wireless clients. A 40MHz bandwidth is better utilised in an all-802.11n environment to maximise speed throughput.

Support for Short SMS numbers – typically used to check credit balance, communicating with Customer Services, etc.

Support (including SMS support) for the following modems has been added:

Huawei E173

Huawei E1752

Huawei E1752 (Movistar Spain)

Nokia CS-17

ZTE MF112

v4.2.5, 21 July 2010

Available for UMR, 3GN, 4GR
This release adds support for the Onda MW823UP modem (Wind Italy).

v4.2.4, 5 July 2010

Available for UMR, 3GN, 4GR (initial release)
This release adds support for the ZAIN modem ZTE MF633 and updates support for the D-Link DWM-156 modem to handle latest modem firmware. There is also a bugfix on the Home Automation Scheduler.

v4.2.3, 22 June 2010

Available for UMR, 3GN
This release adds Finland to the list of countries included in the dropdown APN database and fixes a few issues, namely:

Fix for self-learning non-dimming NEXAs

Huawei E122 now operates in full power mode

The “all” group in Home Automation rebuilds itself when a new device is added through the API

Improved Wake-On-LAN

Fixed Bandluxe C100s/C120 running with PIN code

v4.2.2, 3 June 2010

Available for UMR, 3GN
A quick fix release to deal with a cosmetic error on Home Automation (Manual Control)

v4.2.1, 1 June 2010

Available for UMR, 3GN
This release brings support for 8 new modems plus SMS support for 2 modems already supported (ZTE’s MF662 and MF668). The new modems supported are:

BandLuxe C321

Huawei E1752

Huawei UMG181

ProMate eGo.5

T-Mobile 120 (ZTE MF626 rebrand)

Vodafone K4505-Z

ZTE MF102

ZTE MF110

Other fixes/enhancements are as follows:

PIN code issue resolved on Nokia USB modems

Fixed Home Automation SMS and case sensitivity (now you can send “bedroom on” as well as “BeDrOOm on”)

Added support for adding Everflourish and Proove devices via the API

v4.2.0, 19 May 2010

Available for UMR

This major firmware release includes a number of new Home Automation features, SMS developments that enable SMS functionality on “difficult” Sierra modems and support for six new modems.
The new Home Automation features are as follows:

You can now group appliances under aliases, e.g. you could use this to control appliances on a room-by-room basis

Improved settings protection in the event of power failure while saving settings

The six new modems supported are:

D-Link DWM-156

Option 505m

STC-U720 (Sweden Telecom)

Vodafone K3765-Z

Anydata 555c (MTS India)

Epivally SEC-8089 (TATA Photon India)

v4.1.6, 9 April 2010

Available for UMR, 3GN
This was a bugfix release, resolving an issue with the Network Time Protocol (NTP) clock.

v4.1.5, 25 March 2010

Available for UMR, 3GN
This firmware update introduced a pre-configured database of APN settings selected via dropdown lists of countries and mobile operators in the configuration wizard and modem settings screen. The countries included in the APN database are:

Canada

Denmark

Ireland

Italy

Kuwait

Norway

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Sweden

Syria

UK

USA

There were a couple of bugfixes in this release, namely:

a fix for an issue related to Sirf mode on the Globalsat BU-353 GPS

and a fix for a problem, where the Connection Tracker wasn’t executing “Reboot and Redial” correctly upon failure

Two new modems were added in this release:

Novatel Wireless U998/MC998D (Bell Canada)

Sierra Wireless 309

v4.1.4, 1 April 2010

Available for 4GR (initial release)
This was possibly the initial factory release of firmware for the 4GR. We have neither archive nor details of it.

v4.1.3, 19 February 2010

Available for UMR, 3GN

This was a bugfix release, resolving the following issues:

Remote management stability

Restored support for the Novatel modems MC930D and MC950D

MTU problem for Option modems

v4.1.2, 10 February 2010

Available for UMR
The focus of this firmware release was to provide SMS functionality for modems that prove challenging in this respect.

11 more modems fully supported, namely:

4G-System XSStick W14

Alcatel One Touch X030

Alcatel One Touch X060s

Huawei E122 (3 Denmark)

Huawei E182e (recommend USB modem firmware update)

Huawei E1820 (recommend USB modem firmware update)

Longcheer WM71

Sony Ericsson MD300

Sony Ericsson MD400

Vodafone K4505

ZTE MF662 (OTE Greece, 21Mbps down, 5.76Mbps up)

You can select your preferred SMS access method: SIM / Modem / Auto. The recommendation if you’re having SMS problems is to both SIM and Modem modes explicitly and test by sending an SMS.

Choose the Google map type (Hybrid, Satellite, Terrain, Road) to use with GPS

Sunrise/Sunset event scheduling for home automation. Your geographical position is either entered manually or detected automatically if GPS is enabled. Sunrise/Sunset times are displayed on the Status Overview if position is known.

You can now randomise the minutes component of scheduled home automation, for more realistic anti-burglary impact

Verified to work with the DovTelCon (Dovado Tellstick Control) API program developed by Daniel Buecke (Thanks Daniel!!) This Windows system bar utility allows you to quickly take control of all your home automation devices locally or from remote.

With 4.1.x firmware, Dovado now also provide a Windows-based utility to apply the firmware upgrade from your PC without having to login to the browser-based configuration inteface.

When enabling Remote Management, you can now specify hostnames in your white-list as opposed to just numerical IP addresses. This will be useful if you use Dynamic DNS at the remote management location.

You can now access the API features from the Internet as opposed to just from the LAN. You can enable/disable the API features which can be accessed over the internet.

You can view which LAN->UPNP ports are in use

You can now disable ping responses to ICMP requests from the Internet. Available from SYSTEM->NETWORK SETTINGS

You can specify a Network Time Protocol server (NTP)

Daylight savings is an option on the NTP settings.

If you send a Connection Up SMS command you get more info if the Connection Tracker is enabled

multiple VPN sessions behind the UMR are now supported

Navigation between setup pages has been optimised in speed terms.

v4.0.4, 16 November 2009

Available for 3GN (initial release)

v4.0.2, 22 September 2009

Available for UMR

NOTE: Improved stability. Corrected a major issue where UMR can ‘crash’ and remain unresponsive until a manual power restart has taken place.

Corrected an error message on the INTERNET->WAN PORT SETTINGS page when switching between manual and DHCP settings.

Support for Sierra Wireless Compass 597 (Sprint) added

Limited support for Huawei E182e

Added ‘None’ as alternative to authentication method on the MODEM->PPP page (may speed up connection time)

IP address is displayed in ‘Connection Up’ SMS notifications

v4.0.1, 7 September 2009

Available for UMR

support for 5 new modems added

TEST EMAIL button (for testing outgoing SMTP mail server).

GPS position now includes additional digits (seconds) for improved positioning accuracy

UPNP has been corrected.

Active FTP method has been implemented.

Port Forwarding beyond port 65000 now visible in GUI.

Disconnect/Connect user interface button working on all UMTS modems within MODEM->MODEM STATUS page.

ZTE modems compatibility improved.

Home Automation scheduler

Support for blank spaces between words within APN field.

v4.0, 10 August 2009

Available for UMR

Support for the very latest “HSPA+” modems, 9 new modems added

GPS tracking (requires GPS dongle)

Wake-on-LAN

Telnet API for SMS, HTTP and Home Automation

Internet Traffic Consumption notification via e-mail

Monthly traffic counter reset date can be adjusted (default was first day of month).

Traffic counter can be reset manually.

Entire configuration can be saved/restored.

SMS Phonebook, practical for saving phone numbers when sending out an SMS.